In a month which like many others will be commemorating a milestone anniversary (some more sombrethan others), the BBC have one of their own in the field of broadcasting – having officially marked 20 years of online presence as of Sunday (13 April).

Their launch of ‘The BBC Networking Club’, which occurred on 13 April 1994, is notable for being one of the first media organisations or TV networks in the world to carry their own website, and while access was a little more limited than it is today, would offer some of the world’s first tastes of mainstream (audio) streaming with the inclusion of live BBC Radio 5 Live coverage the next year in 1995.

The Networking Club, between its launch and moving aside for a more rounded and news-centric BBC website in 1997, was notable as a ‘not-for-profit subscription website‘ carrying basic social networking features such as bulletin boards and organisation information, the launch of which was claimed to be timed to coincide with ‘educational TV series’ The Net, joined later by other popular programmes.

Other notable milestones for the BBC online have included the launch of a dedicated ‘BBC Sport’ subsection in 1996 (co-inciding with that year’s Summer Olympic Games), and the BBC iPlayer in 2007, though video generally in more shortened form would be a feature of the BBC website between those two dates.

As the online service in both news, features, and streaming continues to evolve across a range of mediums and methods, the public broadcaster commemorated their origins in a ceremony on Friday (11 April), featuring former BBC staff part of The Networking Club, including Martha Lane Fox, John Naughton, and JP Rangaswami.

BBC Future Media director Ralph Rivera summarised: “The BBC was there at the beginning, helping to usher in a whole host of online technologies that are now ingrained in our everyday lives. The web certainly looked different back then but it has retained the same potential to change our lives for the better, and we continue to be at the forefront of this exciting industry. We’re continually looking at how we can use the technology of tomorrow to bring even better services to our audiences today, and help improve access to information and entertainment.”

While it remains to be seen what the BBC’s online presence will look like after their 40th anniversary, rest assured they will try to make it an ‘appy’ two decades…